Dear Group
My cousin is a carpenter/cabinet-maker. I commissioned him to make and install a wooden gate. Its a little garden gate made out of probably cheap planks and painted white. I don't know what wood was used.He pressed me to give him the job, its is not like I forced it on him.
I am very disappointed with the results. I told him that it should provide total privacy, but he has positioned the slats so that one can see through, it was supposed to overhang a step, but its ten centimetres shorter, so that one can see under it, and although he has oodles of space at one side, on the other he has trimmed down the last plank to be half the width, so that it looks odd and untidy, and the bottom of the slats are not even. One is higher than all the rest, and one is slanted. I don't know what to say to him as I don't wish to sour our relationship, I see him once a year perhaps. I also did not make a written agreement. I thought he had taken in what I said but he clearly has a bad memory, and low standards in terms of neatness and finishing.
He charged me R3000.00. In my country you could buy groceries for three months from that, the monthly rent for the property is R4500, as a comparison. Did he overcharge me and how do I complain about the general shabby workmanship without offending him too much. There is still half the money outstanding. I have a photograph of it.
Caro

How long did it take him?
He might have an Antisocial Personality Disorder or he might be passive-aggressive or he might be taking revenge for something only known to him.
Consider the cost to be the tuition for learning a valuable lesson about people and about your cousin.
Make a drawing of what you want, the materials to be used and the surface finish and get at least five bids. In the event of an ambiguity the contract is interpreted against the person who wrote it.

It looks like less than $300 US, that dosn't sound unreasonable, if the job was done right. He dosn't seem to be worried about the relationship never mind pride of workmanship.
What you have is a contract with a professional, you are the customer and he is a contractor and as such, friends and family should treat each other like any other contract holder. If you are not happy treat him just like you would with a stranger and ask him to make it right. You are still willing to pay up the balance when the gate is what you wanted.

I see things like that all the time. What a customer had envisioned and what a contractor interpeted are two different things. Did you have an agreed upon price prior to the project begining? And post the pic I'd love to see the gate.